In the past, as a printing apparatus, a dot-impact printer has been known which is provided with a print head for impacting on a print wire and an ink ribbon cartridge for receiving an ink ribbon, and in which an image is printed on a print sheet by allowing the print wire to collide with the print sheet on a platen where the ink ribbon sent from the ink ribbon cartridge is interposed between the print sheet and the print wire. In such a printer, a ribbon guide is provided so as to securely move the ink ribbon sent from the ink ribbon cartridge to the front side of the print wire.
In general, the ribbon guide includes a pair of guide frames that are disposed on the left and right sides of an insertion hole into which the print head is inserted. The ribbon guide is configured to guide the ink ribbon so that the ink ribbon enters into one guide frame, passes through a front side of the print head, and exits from the other guide frame, and the upper and lower ends of the ink ribbon are guided by the upper and lower inner edges of the guide frames. Additionally, a slit is formed on each of the pair of guide frames so that the ink ribbon is inserted into the ribbon guide via the slit. In prior art arrangements, a slit has been formed on an upper surface of the guide frame so as to extend along the running direction of the ink ribbon (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-7-89204). A slit has also been formed on the upper surface of each of the pair of guide frames so as to extend along the direction substantially perpendicular to the running direction of the ink ribbon (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-238831); and the like.